The validity of the permits the city will issue is uncertain.
By Jonathan Friedman/Assistant Editor
The Planning Commission is being asked to issue the first set of coastal development permits on Monday, with two municipal projects going before the commissioners. The ordinance to allow the city to issue the permits in accordance with the California Coastal Commission-drafted Local Coastal Program for Malibu went into effect last week after the City Council approved the measure in October. The city has never issued coastal permits and no coastal permits at all have been granted for projects in Malibu since the summer of 2002.
All development projects, public or private, in areas within the coastal zone (the entire city of Malibu is in the coastal zone) must obtain coastal development permits. Cities and counties that have a Local Coastal Program, a document usually drafted by the local government and approved by the California Coastal Commission that sets the zoning and development rules for that particular coastal area, are able to issue the permits. The Coastal Commission grants coastal permits for projects in areas without an LCP.
Previously, Malibu projects went before the Coastal Commission. Frustrated by Malibu’s inability to put together an LCP, the commission wrote one for the city and approved it in September 2002. Saying the document was too restrictive, residents gathered more than 2,400 signatures to subject the LCP to a citywide referendum. The Coastal Commission said the vote was not legal, an opinion restated by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge and the Court of Appeal. While the courts were sorting out this issue, no coastal permits were issued in the city. The city maintains the Coastal Commission should be issuing the permits because the LCP had not yet been validated, while the commission said the city should issue the permits based on the document.
The City Council voted to begin issuing the permits based on the Coastal Commission-drafted LCP while it waits to hear from the Supreme Court to decide if it will hear the case. However, the long-term validity of those permits is not assured. Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas wrote in an October letter to Mayor Sharon Barovsky that the commission was unwilling to strike an agreement with the city that permits issued now would remain valid regardless of the outcome of the city’s lawsuit against the commission.
There are more than 100 municipal, business and residential projects that have received all the necessary permits except for coastal permits. Just the two municipal projects are going before the commission on Monday. There is one more Planning Commission meeting scheduled for this year. It was not known at press time if any of those projects will be presented at that meeting. The session is scheduled to take place on Dec. 20. Traditionally, meetings near Christmas Day are cancelled.
The items going before the commission on Monday are the Big Rock drainage improvement project and the realignment of Zumirez Drive.
The Big Rock project is the completion of one started by the California Department of Transportation to reduce the risk of flooding on Big Rock Drive. In 2002, Caltrans obtained a permit to construct a large reinforced concrete culvert under Pacific Coast Highway. The municipal project, according to the city, would channel storm water to that drain.
The Zumirez realignment involves relocating the portion of the Point Dume street south of Pacific Coast Highway about 100 feet to the east to align it with the northern section of the road. This, according to the city, will make the road safer. Also, a four-way traffic signal will be installed. Additionally, a right-turn deceleration lane will be installed on Pacific Coast Highway for drivers turning onto Zumirez Drive. The realignment plan was given support by the Public Safety and Public Works commissions during a joint session in September.